End Of An Era
It will be a different atmosphere and a different experience.
Over the past three decades, the number of fish vendors and sellers at Tsukiji has dropped by nearly half. In the Nikkei, former Tsukiji fish trader Naoto Nakamura explained that fisherman are now apparently selling their best fish to supermarkets, who can guarantee better prices. According to Nakamura, that means the fish that ends up at Tsukiji have been the second-raters.
And I've read other accounts that reflect a shift in the seafood selling and auctioning business. Fewer vendors, smaller catches, direct sales. I wonder how the magic of the Tsukiji name will fare? Will there be a direct from Toyosu branding?
I'm glad to have seen some of the Tsukiji market that is now history.
[link, news, culture, hmm, JT]
https://kotaku.com/the-end-of-the-tsukiji-fish-market-1829130272
It will be a different atmosphere and a different experience.
Over the past three decades, the number of fish vendors and sellers at Tsukiji has dropped by nearly half. In the Nikkei, former Tsukiji fish trader Naoto Nakamura explained that fisherman are now apparently selling their best fish to supermarkets, who can guarantee better prices. According to Nakamura, that means the fish that ends up at Tsukiji have been the second-raters.
And I've read other accounts that reflect a shift in the seafood selling and auctioning business. Fewer vendors, smaller catches, direct sales. I wonder how the magic of the Tsukiji name will fare? Will there be a direct from Toyosu branding?
I'm glad to have seen some of the Tsukiji market that is now history.
[link, news, culture, hmm, JT]
https://kotaku.com/the-end-of-the-tsukiji-fish-market-1829130272
Business is also declining, and many Tsukiji fish vendors have already given up -- 30 years ago there were more than 1,000 vendors; today, only about 535 are still in business. There are several reasons for the drop. One is that the auction system is not functioning well, in part because of the increased influence of supermarkets, which often buy fish direct from the fishing fleets. Lured by guaranteed large-scale sales, many fishermen and fish processors now send to Tsukiji only fish they cannot sell to supermarkets.
ReplyDeleteThe auction process is also hampered by over-competition among the ni-uke (auction houses), which gather fish from fishermen and sell to vendors, taking no risks but earning commissions on sales. Before World War II, there was only one major auction house at Tsukiji; now there are five major houses and two small ones, created as part of an antimonopoly drive during the postwar American occupation of Japan. But a market with multiple referees competing with each other cannot run smoothly.
Against this background, more vendors may decide to quit, seeing the move to Toyosu as a final straw, or perhaps just as an opportune moment to retire. Many vendors are elderly, in part because the businesses typically pass on their licenses to young family members, who seem less and less interested. The next wave of closures is likely to include many of the small-scale vendors that sell to high-end restaurants.
asia.nikkei.com - End of Tsukiji fish market, an insider's view
Will miss the fish market. Haven’t been there in awhile because of the 3:00 am time you had to arrive to have a chance to get in.
ReplyDeleteWarren Naguwa
ReplyDeleteSo sad to see these independent vendors leave the market. For those of us not liking the stench, the booths were a nice distraction.
ReplyDeleteCarol Matsui I don’t know if you are talking about the inside or the outside market, but the market we went to last summer was the outer market. This market is still there. Don’t know what’s going to happen to the outer market.
ReplyDelete